Day 17 St Andrew’s Day
Day 17 30th November, St Andrew’s Day Apostolos Andreas to Karpass tip
Today is a day for savouring, to relish our achievement, enjoy our success and celebrate the end of fatigue.
It is also a day to say goodbye to some companions. I start with my blisters – they have accompanied me for most of the journey. I have tended them with care and attention, bathing them, soothing them with double blister plasters, and protecting them as much as I could by adjusting my steps to avoid unnecessary friction. They have repaid me with persistent reminders of their presence despite my best efforts, defying even multiple doses of paracetamol. Their stubbornness is to be admired, but their reign of pain is about to end as I plan to put my feet up for quite some time.
A second farewell is to accommodation in the north. Tonight we will sleep back at my house near Paphos. The quality of accommodation overall in the north was better than I expected given our route. The hospitality has been exemplary. The ladies of the Eleousa restaurant and hotel do not speak a word of English and we moufflons do not speak a word of Turkish. Despite these language deficiencies we get across our appreciation for how they have taken care of us. We pack our bags for the final time, load them into the car and make for Apostolos Andreas and the name-day frenzy that has probably already broken out.
Despite our proximity advantage, hundreds of pilgrims from the south have beaten us to the car parks. We have stopped on the way to enjoy another coffee at our regular coffee spot in Rizokarpasso. It is also hard to resist stopping to enjoy another view of the Big Sandy beach. Once at the monastery we squeeze into a space in one of the overflow car parks set up by the police for the day.
We are due to meet our southern logistical team at the monastery who will drive us back home. But before this reunion there is one more thing to do. Having walked to the monastery, we need to walk just a little further to the very tip of the peninsula and meet up with the Besparmak again so say a proper farewell to Tugberk’s creation. At this spot there is a large stone which marks the end of the Besparmak trail at this furthest point of the island – here our walk is truly over.
We have admired the Besparmak trail, very much better in terms of quality and signage than anything we encountered in the south. With its help we have walked some of the most beautifully serene landscape – an enthralling cocktail of mountains, sea, history, vegetation, culture and weather.
Many photographs are taken. In the gorgeous early morning sunshine we linger at this, the terminus of our adventure. Are we reluctant to say the thrills are over, or are we emphasising that our tribulations are really finished? Maybe a mix of both.
The girls inform us they have arrived at the monastery so we head back to join them and savour the services which have drawn so many.
There we join in the far more pandemonium that accompanied the First Lady’s visit yesterday. The church is packed, the grounds outside are packed, the car parks are packed. We find the girls, who are joined by a cousin – the girls did not feel comfortable making the crossing without some local knowledge.
As if to announce our feat to the crowds we have donned our Moufflon Madness T-shirts. We now wear our medals of accomplishment and take more photographs. The odd head is turned, but it seems that the draw of the Apostle and his particular miracle outranks our accomplishment.
Conceding defeat I join in the services. It is impossible to get inside the church so I am left to mixing with the hordes outside, sharing in their bread and Koliva. At one point the service comes outside and circumnavigates the church, given all pilgrims an opportunity to pay their respects to the Apostle.
Finally the time comes to head home. This brings our saddest farewell.
Tugberk breaks the news to us that this is his last walk. He and his wife are planning to move to New Zealand where they believe their environmental passion can best be expressed. He surprises us by placing around the neck of each moufflon a further medal, this one made from the old rafters of the monastery itself.
We tell him that it has been our honour to have shared his last walk in Cyprus with him. Tugberk has not only been our guide. He educated us on life in the north; he taught us about plant life; he was our interpreter; he found places for us to stay; he arranged transport for our bags; he kept us safe and out of trouble in the remotest of places; and he became our friend.
As we settle in for the long journey back to Aphrodite Hills, the moufflon share their highlight of the Apostles’ Way challenge:
· Nick - recognising juniper and masticha trees; friendship; learning the history of Cyprus; understanding the diversity of Cyprus’ nature and landscape
· Len - Tugberk
· Robert - being the first ; getting close to the country
· Tugberk – we speculate that he would say the coaching sessions with Len on how to get the best out of life
As they say in the advert - priceless
Day 17 stats: Distance 2.6 miles (4.2 Km), total miles 211.5 (350.5 Km)